This post is less of a “How To” and more of a rant/epiphany, which is coming from a discussion I had with Mike and thoughts I have had about this subject over the past few weeks.

When I started brewing, I thought it would be fun to brew with things like Molasses and Brown Sugar…because I like the taste of both those ingredients.  They taste great in cookies and other baked goods; they should taste great in beers too.

What I didn’t initially understand was that all the sweetness in the sugars would be fermented away, leaving only flavors of the sugar cane processing. 

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I do not like beers brewed with brown sugar.  I’ve made brown ales and Old Peculiar clones and they have a cidery, winey flavor…and not in a good way.

Molasses has had the same effect on the beers that I have brewed. 

I have had good experience with maple syrup, but the maple porter recipe I came up with needs some modifications. 

I think the next sugar to try will be honey.  I have had great beers brewed with honey.

There must be a correlation between sugars with a large amount of unfermentatbles and weird flavors.